RANGOON - A group of 18 Muslim illegal immigrants from Burma who are refusing to leave the grounds of a UN refugee agency in Malaysia are "pretending" to seek asylum, a Rangoon official said today.

"Some individuals or groups are trying to get into Malaysia using various ways and means, including pretending to seek asylum with the help of human traffickers and some NGOs," Burma's junta spokesman Colonel Hla Min told AFP .

The group invaded the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) centre in Kuala Lumpur in two batches on Monday and Tuesday.

In the junta's first comments since the incident, the spokesman said the 18, who are members of Burma's minority Rohingya Muslim community, originally went to Thailand to work illegally.

"The 18 persons seeking asylum in Malaysia are I believe those who went to Thailand to work there as illegal workers. But due to the changes of policy on foreign illegal workers these 18 people went to Malaysia to seek jobs," Hla Min said.

"But the government of Myanmar [Burma] is sending workers to Malaysia through proper official channels, creating difficulties for those who enter Malaysia illegally," he said, adding that this had led them to pretend to seek asylum.

Appeals rejected

The 15 men, two children and a woman have remained camped in the compound of the centre and say they will not leave until they are granted asylum in Malaysia or a third country.

The immigrants said previous asylum appeals had always been rejected, but there was no other place for them to turn to as they were being persecuted in their own country.

In January, more than two dozen Rohingya immigrants stormed the centre to seek asylum, but were handed over to immigration officials who said they would be deported.